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Jun 7, 2017

Wednesday, June 7, 2017, Jake Halperin

TITLE: TOMAYTO/TOMAHTO

I was once part of a committee that spent two hours SPLITTING HAIRS (especially about prepositions) on the wording of the our school's mission statement. Two hours spent on a banality which serves no purpose is time I will never get back. I'll bet you've got a story like that too.Husker Gary here for our midweek odyessy where Jake has taken the word HAIR and SPLIT it in as many unique ways as he could - 1/3, 2/2 and 3/1 as you see below:

Those SPLIT HAIRS provide the beginning and end of theme fills and satisfy the reveal of

59. Make petty distinctions ... and what 17-, 23- and 49-Across literally do? : SPLIT HAIRS - As some think this is

Here is the balance of Jake's theme answers:17. Handyman's maintenance field : HOME REPAIR- After our recent hailstorm, we have been contacted aggressively by four companies for this HOME REPAIR

19. Story line : PLOT - To whom did Don and Phil sing, "The movie wasn't so hot, It didn't have much of a PLOT" in 1957?20. 17th-century English poet John : DRYDEN - Not on my literary radar21. Flexible : LISSOME - Me 50 years ago26. Cunning plan : PLOY28. "The Night Manager" actor Hiddleston : TOM - It would appear that Tom is not managing a Motel 6 in Omaha

29. MAX rival : SHO30. Persistent noise : DIN - One man's DIN...31. Polishes, as a skill : HONES33. Team victory cry : WE WON - Like a gazillion people said last year when the Cubs won37. Botanist's study : FLORA - As opposed the zoologist who studies FAUNA39. Stat for Clayton Kershaw : ERA - Earned Run Average. All right, get a bat and you try to stay in against Kershaw's curveball which he has HONED to a fine skill.

40. "Same here" : AS AM I - I couldn't hit that curve either41. Soda machine freebie : STRAW - How you dispose of the wrapper after the straw is dispensed is optional

42. Smooths, as wood : SANDS44. Sardine container : TIN - Or aluminum

45. Disconnect between generations : GAP47. Unclogging agent : LYE48. Fountain of jazz : PETE54. Bailiff's bellow : ALL RISE55. Engineer who reinvented the wheel? : FERRIS - He was inducted into their Hall Of Fame 105 years after his Wheel first operated

58. Boxer Oscar __ Hoya : DELA62. Lacking precipitation : ARID63. Stride at a track : GAIT - The odd GAIT of Olympic Walk Racing - One foot must always be on the ground at all times

Down1. How many TV shows air : IN HD2. Mannerless sort : BOOR3. Start of the Boy Scout Oath and the Girl Scout Promise : ON MY HONOR4. At some point : ONE DAY - Put the word FINE in the middle and you have a great 1963 song5. Actress Gillan of "Guardians of the Galaxy" : KAREN - Not on my cinematic radar6. Cough syrup cover : CAP7. Italian article : UNA

8. Even now : STILL9. Possibilities of harm : PERILS10. Astaire footwear : TAP SHOES11. Snow structure : IGLOO12. Watts of "Mulholland Dr." : NAOMI - I saw this on NETFLIX and when I saw there was only a few minutes left, I knew there would be no resolution to all the bizzare parts. I guess that is standard for David Lynch films.

57. Union members until 1991: Abbr. : SSRS60. Can cover : LID61. "__ only me!" : IT'S - Okay, grammarian hair splitters, would you say, "It's only I"?The ability to SPLIT HAIRS is part of the fun in this venue. Let's see what you have to say/opine/state/muse...

Jake, just so you know, we try to not quibble around here, and there you go splitting hairs.

Husker, I know the Phil and Don answer, but is she the same girl that Dion sang about in 1961 ? "Here's my story, it's sad but true. It's about a girl that I once knew..." If so, she's gonna get a rep.

That NW corner was the toughest for me to solve. Didn't know my Italian grandma, the 17th century English poet John, and no idea on Gillian's first name.

However, I did know ON MY HONOR and had HOME REPAIR, knew the Apple product but it wasn't coming to mind. INHD fell, and then BOOR and IBOOK and ONE DAY. So probably NONNA, because that would give me KAREN and DRYDEN. TADA !

Well, time to get back to my current pet project.

Abejo, from Monday, yes, let's get together again and have a brew again. If you have time on your schedule. I would like that.

Well, we had TONE and HONES and PLOT and PLOY. And then we had a DNF. I read GILLAN as GILLIAN, that kept KAREN from appearing. Forgetting PLOT at 19a, I'd rewritten it at 26a. That kept ONE DAY from appearing. Bzzzzzt!

As fun as Jake's puzzle was, HG's tour was even better. Two favorite clues - "engineer who reinvented the wheel" and "union members until 1991". Natick was KAREN Gillan x John DRYDEN, but I wagged it right. Thanks to both Jake and HG. Never thought about the heroine in the songs being the same until TTP mentioned it, but I know both songs. CSO to our own TIN today - don't ice the sardines.

Other unknowns were LISSOME, TOM Hiddleston, HAITIAN DOLLAR (but I've spent a lot of Caymen dollars), DELFT or Franz LEHAR. The only reason that You Be ILLIN isn't my favorite Run DMC "song" is because I don't HAVE a favorite Run DMC "song".

Someone mentioned the America's Cup racing. Yesterday the Kiwis pitch-poled their boat at the start of the race. No one hurt, but major damage. The helmsman is about 50 feet above the water when that happens. Fortunately he and the rest of the crew in the back of the boat were able to stay on the boat. Two guys fell in.

Thank you HG for explaining 22D SCHWAS, but I still don't get it! I was pretty sure my across fills were ok so I left it alone. The NW corner was the last to fall. IBOOK, NONNA, DRYDEN, all unknowns, but when I tried/wagged ON MY HONOR & ONE DAY, its began to make sense.

Started with HBO for 29A, but SHO eventually made more sense. There were other concerns too. ILLIN, HAITIAN DOLLAR, & SANYO slowed me down, but Eventually they prevailed.

The lefties baseball career (All amateur) came crashing down I discovered I could not hit a left-handed pitchers curve ball. Can't imagine trying to bat against Kershaw.

But what really tripped me up was 55a Engineer who reinvented the wheel?I had --RR--& thought, Was there an engineer named Barrow?(Hence, wheelbarrow???)Finally WAGed "IS" suffixbut WAG'd lAhar wrongand in the end went with "Harris"(Delft/Delht, Ferris never occurred to me...)

I trust our common issue to your care.'She said, and gliding pass'd unseen in air.I strove to speak: but horror tied my tongue;And thrice about her neck my arms I flung,And, thrice deceiv'd, on vain embraces hung.Light as an empty dream at break of day,Or as a blast of wind, she rush'd away.Thus having pass'd the night in fruitless pain,I to my longing friends return again.

The book. Strega Nona by Tomie de Paola was popular in my primary grade classes. It means Grandma Witch. Sometimes we see nona with one N and sometimes with two.

I had to do pretty much more than stay the course for a year to PASS Go and be paid. LOL.Among them was teaching kids their P's andf Q's and schwas.

I enjoyed this puzzle- great theme, some long fills, several learning moments with just enough crunch without making me frustrated so thanks, Jake and thank you, Husker Gary for a delightful, funny and informative write up!

CED- I also thought "Was there an engineer named Barrow?" I had the two R's and thought I was being so clever, lol. Finally got FERRIS which ended up being my favorite clue/fill.

Several perps today, some of which I knew but couldn't dredge up: DRYDEN, PETE, KAREN (I also read it as Gillian instead of Gillan) DELFT, ILLIN and HAITIANDOLLAR.

I haven't been LISSOME in many years. I'm also in the "cane users club" and have been for about 10 years. At 47, it really makes me feel OLD(S). In my 30's the docs said I had the BONES and body of a "60 something" so now, I guess I'm in my 80's-90's ;) I can't ALTER my joint/disc/arthritis issues that were inherited ( I drew the short STRAW with that!) but I try not to become IRED- it is what it is and I deal with it one day and sometimes, one hour at a time :)

Spitz- good luck with your procedure! Thanks for the kind comments yesterday and the warm welcome back :) Irish Miss- you are a dear!

I'm sitting on my deck and actually freezing. Cloudy and around 60 but the wind is so strong, it feels much cooler. Unusual to need a jacket here in June but I'm wearing one. I need some socks but can't get them on by myself today with my back acting up. Hoping it warms up some, as we are going to watch my nephew's baseball game this evening- can't wait since this is the first game this season that we've been able to attend.

Anon@8:53 -- Here's what Merriam-Webster says about that:Lissome (sometimes spelled "lissom") is a gently altered form of its synonym, "lithesome." While "lissome" tends to be the more popular choice these days, the two words have similar pasts. They both appeared in the second half of the 18th century, and they both trace back to the much older "lithe" ("supple" or "graceful"), which first appeared in English during the 14th century and comes from an Old English word meaning "gentle." "Lissome" can also be an adverb meaning "in a supple or nimble manner," but this use is rare.

Fun puzzle from Jake. Loved the progression of the split hairs. Unknowns were TOM Hiddleston, KAREN Gillan, NAOMI Watts, and "You Be ILLIN". Favorite clue/answer was "Engineer who reinvented the wheel?" for FERRIS. Thanks for the expo, Husker Gary. Wonderful as always.

I'm off to an adventure at the zoo with the three oldest grandchildren. Enjoy the day!

I found this a tad crunchier than the usual Wednesday but, in the end, it all came together. I didn't see the theme until filling in the reveal. Hand up for seeing Gillian but I never heard of Karen Gillan or Karen Gillian so no harm, no foul. Nice CSO to Spitz at RPI's Mr. Ferris which was also a learning moment for me, that he was an alum. Tin and Tom got a hoot and a holler, too. Seeing Tom Hiddleston reminded me of his ill-fated relationship with Taylor Swift. I've lost track of how many romantic partners she has had but, IMO, Hiddleston was not her type at all. OTOH, though, I have no idea what her type is! Liked ploy and plot and I find schwa as funny to look at as it is to say. I think I got lissome and winsome mixed up in my brain, so Flexible threw me off.

Nicely done, Jake, and thanks Mr. Gary for another delightful commentary, complete with lots of bells and whistles.

Spitz, hope you got a good report. (I see my doctor on Monday for a follow-up to a similar issue.)

BunnyM, please send me an email when you have a free moment.

One of my best friends is coming for lunch which she is bringing in the form of a pizza! Yay, I haven't had pizza in quite awhile so I'm looking forward to digging in! 🍕🍕🍕

I still have my English Lit. book from college. "After John Donne and John Milton, John Dryden was the greatest English poet of the seventeenth century. After William Shakespeare and Ben Jonson, he was the greatest playwright. And he has no peer as a writer of prose, especially literary criticism, and as a translator." from the Poetry FoundationPoem by John Dryden :Happy the man, and happy he alone,He who can call today his own:He who, secure within, can say,Tomorrow do thy worst, for I have lived today.Be fair or foul or rain or shineThe joys I have possessed, in spite of fate, are mine.Not Heaven itself upon the past has power,But what has been, has been, and I have had my hour. John Dryden

DO, I was about to post the same passage on lissome, lithesome. Great minds run in the same circles. Choosing one over the other would be splitting hairs.

No rain today, temperatures are still below normal, high 50's and low 60's, but certainly preferable to 10 degrees above normal. Normal for June here is high 70's - low 80's.

Fun puzzle and wonderful write-up by HG! The NW took a few extra minutes and schwas was all perps. Should 66a clue include "abbr" since Olds is an abbreviation? As Jinx mentioned, the weather in Bermuda wreaked havoc on the America's Cup racers yesterday. I'm sure the NZ shore team had a long night repairing their craft. Beautiful weather in Chicago today so I'll be out enjoying it. Hope your Wednesday is great too! JB2

Good puzzle from Jake and HG's expo made for some interesting reading. I didn't get the theme until I read the expo. I don't have a problem with split hairs because I have more of a problem with the lack of hair. Oh well.

A few hitches along the way today: I had PLOT vs PLOY which would have given me two plots, HUM vs DIN, and EDGE vs CUSP.

I had a small issue with a STRAW being a Soda Machine Freebie. Maybe a Soda Fountain or Soda Parlor Freebie. Someone will argue that I'm looking at the wrong kind of soda machine, but I am looking at a soda machine that dispenses cans or bottles of soda (actually POP here) which usually doesn't give you a straw not a fountain machine . No biggie, just me being nit-picking today.

Lots of songs out there about Susie, Suzy, Susan and Sue including Johnny Cash's "A Boy Named Sue."

IM: are you going to have chips with your pizza? I think I'll take my DW out for pizza.

Self serve soda machines which dispense soda into cups always provide cups, lids and straws on the side. These machines can be found at Burger King, Mickey D. Target, and Subway, among others.Some hair splitting: Wags here say that such things are not free, they are included in the charge. We could say they are free of extra charge.

OH MY HONOR, I was really SPLITTING HAIRS on this one. The NW was hard for me and TTP, with I BOOK, NONNA, KAREN being unknowns and DRYDEN dredged up for the back of my mind from freshmen english. NAOMI Watts, You Be ILLIN, DELFT, TOM Hiddleston, and Clayton Kershaw's ERA fills were all perps. Apparently MJ didn't know them either. I wanted LITHSOME for LISSOME but the perps wouldn't allow and I looked it up and see it's spelled lithEsome.

I've seen them before but was unfamiliar with the term HANDBELL 'CHOIR'. If they are playing instruments it should be a BAND, IMHO.

Suzy, Susie- How about 'SUE ME, SUE YOU BLUES' by George Harrison.

Blowing STRAWs was fun but the lawyers got involved because somebody's eye was hurt from the flying paper. Anybody remember PAPER straws?

SCHWAS- only in 'America' ( it's really Germany) could someone come up with a name to describe a pronunciation for something that is either misspelled, foreign, or just incorrect. 'Colonel'- explain that one.

Got through the bottom 2/3's easily. The top was a little tough. Took some deep thinking, perps, and wags to get I BOOK, NONNA, DRYDEN, CUSP, LISSOME, IN HD, BOOR, ONE DAY, KAREN, NAOMI

My daughter's third car was an ALERO. She totaled it. Had seat belt on so she was OK. First car a taxi pulled out and hit her, totaled. Second car was stolen while gassing up in Milwaukee and the guy totaled it 4 blocks down the road. And, she is now on her fourth car. She has learned a lot a lot.

Took me a while to think of HAWAII. Should have been obvious.

TTP: Yes, let's do that sometime. I am going to Detroit next week and I do work Thursday through Saturday evenings each week. I do have to get to Pennsylvania soon for a couple days, as well. Let's talk when I get back.

NW block was last to fill. I got only ON MY HONOR the first pass through. Boy Scout oath starts the same as Girl Scout oath which was copied for it. I was a GS for a short time. It took a while to think of IBOOK because I was sure MAC had to be in there. Didn't know NONNA, DRYDEN, KAREN. Nor did I understand what was meant by "Handyman maintenance field" - plumbing, electricity, carpentry? Homerepair - oh, duh! That's a field?

NEPAL: my sister-in-law worked in the office of a physician who decided to climb Everest. SIL was so afraid he wouldn't come back, she went across the hall and applied for an opening in another doctor's office. After being gone more than a month the mountain climber returned, but retired soon after. After you've been to the mountain, is that the peak of all experience?

I woke up this morning to the sound of a excavator being moved into my backyard. The sewer-main replacement is soon to commence. However, nothing has happened since the machine came in. They seem to be starting in my yard in the middle of the block. No back fence and a big indentation where they dug up the sewer to replace the line to the house five years ago that shows where the line is. I told the rep it is about 17 feet deep there. She argued but I know 6 ft. men standing in the hole had a lot of space above them. The city sewer map had said it was 17 ft. and my plumber was shocked at the time.The rep seemed to think I wouldn't have gone out my back door and looked at a hole full of men. I'm not shy.

Bit of a Wednesday toughie, but with a delightful theme--many thanks, Jake. Like others, I had the most trouble in the northwest corner, but getting the SPLIT HAIR answer early certainly helped with the theme answers. My goodness, you gave us a lot of musical material this morning, many thanks, Husker Gary. With the HANDBELL CHOIR, and REEDS, LEHAR, and even TONE (okay, a different tone)there was a bit of music in the air, I suppose. And thanks for the DRYDEN, Yellowrocks.

I was with my Austrian grandmother at a concert once where something by LEHAR was on the program, and she insisted that he asked her out once. I never really believed this, since she liked to embellish stories of her youth, but it made me enjoy his music that day.

The final word in the first line of lyrics for "Lullabye" should be "bedight," not "bedlight." In context "bedlight" (or "bed light") makes no sense and only shows the ignorance of the copyist who was unfamiliar with a synonym for "adorned."

Is that enough hair splitting for ya?

Properly used, the SCHWA is reserved for an unstressed vowel - not just any vowel in an unaccented syllable. A SCHWA is an offglide. I would argue that only the second "a" in "America" is a SCHWA, while the initial "A" is pronounced "uh," equal to the "u" in "but." The IPA would identify the phoneme with an inverted V.

How's that for a hair?

Nice to see the inclusion of TOM Hiddleston. His normal speech (diction & accent) is truly admirable. The Queen would be proud of Her English.

Once in Vienna I had the pleasure of seeing a first-rate production of LEHAR's The Merry Widow (Die Lustige Witwe) at a charming theater on the Danube (I forget its name). I did not, however, ride the famous FERRIS wheel in the Wiener Prater.

To return for a moment to the cane-using theme, I wonder how many of my older colleagues are experiencing an ironic medical outcome similar to mine? For many years I was a runner - or jogger, actually, as I never raced and only did one marathon (in a respectable time). My running was partly for health reasons. I was aware that most of the males in my family died fairly young, and there was a suspicion that heart problems contributed to this morbid stat. I was a happy jogger. I ran nearly every day and never suffered from shin splints or the usual array of running injuries. But ten years ago I developed pain in my right lower back, leading to several tests and a diagnosis of stenosis. After a dozen epidurals and two spinal surgeries, things have only gotten worse. Seems the jogging that was great for my cardiac health was jamming my vertebrae together!

[Sigh...] I suppose if it isn't one set of bad genes, it's another.There must be folk whose genes bless them with lumbar vertebrae strong enough to take decades of jogging. Some day - probably, sadly, not in our lifetimes - we may be able to get printouts of all our genetic strengths and frailties. Until then we'll continue to make mistakes while compensating for the few flaws we suspect.

Thanks Fermat, Bunny, D-O, IM and others for your further good wishes.Everything went well this morning with the Mohs procedure. Doc had to take 3 slices before getting a clean section, but it's all out. Pressure bandage comes off tomorrow, and then band-aids for about a week. Stitches will dissolve over time. Learning was that basal cell doesn't metastisize like other cancers, but left unattended, it would grow in place creating its own havoc.

Did the puzzle before going in for treatment. Got it all except I had 'plot' for PLOY so couldn't make any sense out of ON E DAt.Favorite clue was for SSRS.Agree with OMK about the SCHWA.

Beautiful day here today after 2 days of heavy rain. We got 4" yesterday.

Nah this one sucked. I thought it was ok then I reread some clues and some didn't make sense. Soda machine freebies, where are the straws? Most would think it was the vending machine. Where there are none. Price for part of a deck??? As a poker player confused. And of course is it to early for language clues. Din gimme a break.

Ol' Man Keith, sorry to hear about your stenosis. Yes, it's worrisome when medical advice changes. A few years ago I kept seeing recommendations that drinking two glasses of wine a day was good for your heart or something--a recommendation I loved. For the last week the news has been reporting that drinking more than five glasses of wine per week will start affecting your brain and causing memory loss and other problems. Yikes! Why didn't they tell us this eight years ago. And so it goes.

Spitz, I'm so glad your procedure went well, and I'm sure you'll have a good recovery. Thanks for keeping us posted.

Spitz, that's great news. Misty, were you sceptical that your Aunt got asked out by Monsieur LEHAR or that she turned him down. Andre Rieu has what in UhMeriCuhn sports is called"Game Face". Bobby Knight, master of same, hated the term.

I didn't see HG's question about"Little Susie" but I did catch​ Terry Gross 'Fresh Air' interview of Dion. And if he popped in here..I really missed Splynter's visual of LISSOME This was a Wednesday grade xword and Saturday grade write-up from Husker. I stopped in the middle to see the name of the author. I guess I'd done a Jake Halperin before. Grrr

And here's a hand for hasket and auteur.

And what isn't in it. Glad you're not ILLIN too much, Owen. We need you to pull double duty until Ku-Moe gets back.

How about "Venemous summer" for 64a Rich?

I'd have less inky mess if I'd count first before scribbling in DONNE, AMATHYST and EDGE(the latter the right count).

And I never got the theme. No clue to the clue. I'm dense there. And boring here.

And I mentioned the Dion interview and left out the most interesting part:Dion was invited by Buddy Holly to join him on the fateful plane ride. "How much?" Dion asked. $36.00. That was Dion's rent as a kid and he thought no way was he paying a months rent.

Forgetting of course that he was making thousands.

I'll bet Misty doesn't believe that story.

I can't recall the Richie Valens biopic treatment of the "Day"(ok night, it was day when McLean heard the news)

I almost finished this without any problems but FERRIS and LEHAR just about killed me. Loved the rest of it though! While I was working on this I was actually watching the end of my Dodger game that Kershaw had started! I loved the ANTE clue, very creative for an every-day word. And thank you for the write up with all the graphics.

I immediately filled in You be ILLIN' and was taken down memory lane upon searching for the video. I didn't realize until today that it was Penn and Teller in the It's Tricky video! And who can forget how groundbreaking it was to have Aerosmith and Run DMC together in Walk This Way?

Bill G, we had your cauliflower/Stilton soup tonight as a main course and are over the moon. Alan hates vegetables but loves this. Thank you. Thank you.

The schwa is a very unclear and hard to identify vowel sound. If you have not seen the spelling it is hard to guess the vowel in an unstressed syllable. We do not say circCUSS. The U could be any vowel. We do not say Ape RILL for April.The dictionary does indeed give three schwas for America. schwa

Musings-Yup, Don and Phil Everly were trying to Wake Up Little Susie . They sang it was “4 o’clock and we’re in trouble deep”, so I wonder how they managed to snooze until 4 am.-Runaround Sue also was know to, uh, get around-The intern I had was named Sue and of course I asked him if he knew A Boy Named Sue and rolled his eyes so violently I think I heard them move-Good to hear Spitz is on the mend-These soda machines have FREE STRAWS and napkins-Is ILLIN’ akin to “flat foot floogie with a floy floy?”

billocohoes- the English don't seem to pronounce anything the way it is spelled. Worcestershire sauce can certainly be added to 'kernel' and 'leftennant'. But of course the French have missure (monsieur) and down here in Nawlins they pronounce everything wrong.

Fermat, et.al., we've had You Be ILLIN' before [July 20, '16] and I believe tawnya even posted the video before. On March 15, Mark McClain used ILLER and Tawnya say'd she'd be down with 'illin.' QED :-). HG - I'm not sure what "flat foot..." means, but "You Be Illin', in technical terms, means "You're crazy-nuts!"

Ha! I posted, scrolled down, and caught a glance of tawyna's Avatar! There's her (apparently) recovered post... And there you go folks, the magic of Argyle and all the Run D.M.C. You will ever need to know. Cheers, -T

One last note: Sometimes being a WOP, dago, of ITALIA [your rule WC :-)] descent plays into your hands. I had no issues w/ NW AS I AM one and NONNA is what my girls call Pop's DW. I may have told this joke ONE DAY, at the office, in a directors meeting...

Hey, I just got new tires for my AlfaThey're ItalianYeahDego through waterDego through mudAnd when deys flatDego WOP, WOP, WOP

The root of the problem is that we are addicted to what I call "The Fad of the Month Club". As you noted, some geek liked his daily wine, and so issued a dictum that "a glass a day will make you play."

Eventually, the international soda consortium noticed this, and got somebody in a lab coat to say, "Oh, no, further research shows that only 50 microliters of wine a day is safe -- just drink Nehi!" This info got into a press release, and soon it is everywhere ... until the next, newest, piece of 'research' claims to show that 50 microliters is just bonkers, and the number should be 750 milliliters a day.

Remember when eggs and butter were utterly forbidden, as eating them was asking for a coronary? Then suddenly, "Oh, no eggs and butter are okay after all." The Fad of the Month strikes again.

AH... but there is a difference, Anonymous @ 4:08, between unstressed and unaccented. Both the "a" syllables in "America" are unaccented, but the first takes a normal conversational stress while the latter does not. The best example I can offer is the French use of the "e" in ending many words. In "femme" you have an initial vowel that will be stressed. In the name "Sartre," you have a final "e" that is sounded, but is always a schwa.